Vis-à-vis yesterday’s election results, it’s only a matter of time before the citizens of America’s largest city experience the folly of their collective decision to elect Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s next mayor.   Allow me to explain.

Every ideology—communism, socialism, fascism, monarchy, theocracy, even democracy—was conceived, theorized, or formalized by human beings.  Each is a social construct: a framework built to organize power, property, and behavior

Even systems that evolved organically, such as tribal or kinship governance rooted in custom, reputation, and elder authority, became “human creations” once they were codified into rules or institutions

Capitalism, however, is unique.  Pre-capitalist trade arose naturally when humans understood the mutual benefit of voluntary exchange.  And this notion emerged from human interaction, not from ideology.  Capitalism is not an invention; it’s an evolution—an economic order born of human behavior rather than human design and as natural as breathing or bartering itself.

Unlike the other ‘isms’, capitalism grew out of timeless human tendencies: to trade, to specialize, to seek fairness through exchange.  Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (1776) didn’t create capitalism; it described it.  Smith merely articulated what had been developing for centuries.  Capitalism, therefore, is an emergent phenomenon—an expression of human nature, not a blueprint for someone’s utopia, as are the other ‘isms.

Every living thing on Earth must obey nature’s immutable laws.  For example, the Law of Gravity applies universally—whether it’s to an airplane lifting off the runway or a bull elephant charging through the African bush.  Ignore them, and consequences follow; insufficient lift, and the plane never leaves the ground; too much weight (mass) and the elephant cannot leap the fallen tre

So too with the laws of economics.  But before we examine the primary law of economics – the  Law of Scarcity – we need to define economics itself.  And the best definition I’ve ever encountered is this: “Economics is the study of the use of scarce resources, which have alternative uses.”   And to offer a fanciful illustration, consider the Garden of Eden.  It had production and distribution, but it wasn’t an economy because everything existed in limitless abundance.  And that’s the key to all economic theory; without scarcity, there’s no need to economize.

In an economic sense, scarcity means that “what everyone wants adds up to more than what is.”  Because every resource can be used in multiple ways, choices must be made.  Even water can be used as ice, a fluid or as steam; petroleum can yield lipstick, antiseptics, or jet fuel.  Every society must therefore answer the same question: how best to allocate its limited resources.

Economics isn’t about personal finance—it’s about collective well-being.  Prices, wages, trade balances, supply & demand, and other cause-and-effect relationships determine how effectively a society uses its resources—and, ultimately, how high or low its standard of living will be.

The world runs on individuals pursuing their own interests.  How, then, can private ambition be corralled to produce public benefit?  The answer is capitalism.  Many misunderstand capitalism and see it as a system driven by selfishness or greed.  Perhaps, but two things can be true at the same time, and the reality is the success of a capitalistic system depends upon meeting the needs of others.

The entrepreneur who seeks profit does so most effectively by serving customers well.  That’s not moral theory—it’s practical truth.  Henry Ford and Steve Jobs became wealthy precisely because they improved the lives of millions.  In its purest form, capitalism is a win-win dynamic: prosperity through mutual benefit.

On Monday I wrote that, when evaluating public policy, it’s wise to ask three simple questions:

What’s the hard evidence?  How much does it cost? and Compared to what?  Those same questions apply when comparing capitalism to any economic system ever devised—including the Marxist–socialist ideology espoused by Zohran Mamdani.  And when judged by evidence, cost, and comparison, the citizens of New York will soon discover that the collective prosperity and the affordability they seek by embracing Mamdani’s ideology will remain elusive

Quote of the day: “If everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn’t thinking.” – General George S. Patton